Thunder Expansion Sacred Land finally took shape, with the Secret Realm in the Void fused with Ancient Arrays standing everywhere, creating linked and complex arrays.
The defenses had reached an astonishing level.
Unless faced with existential destruction, this place would enjoy eternal peace.
At this point, Zhou Yan no longer had any regrets. He had done everything within his power.
Afterward, he couldn’t control the choices of his parents or the desires of his relatives and friends to venture out and train; he couldn’t constantly watch over their safety.
The atmosphere in the Sacred Land was jubilant, but Zhou Yan was not part of it.
At the moment of joyous gathering, Zhou Yan alone left the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land from the Transmission Array Plate and appeared in the endless starry sky where the Heavenly Heart Secret Realm had been.
The starry sky was vast and boundless.
Far away, the vaguely outlined Nirvana Ancestor Star seemed to undergo Nirvana itself, transforming into blood red, the entire planet appearing as if engulfed in a burning sea of fire.
Zhou Yan sensed that Feng Jiu Xian had undergone a fundamental transformation, comprehending the Nirvana Heart and understanding part of the Chaos Sword Body Dao.
Now, Zhou Yan was no longer in the dark about the Chaos Sword Body. He knew it needed to contain the eight great ancient constitutions to derive it.
Feng Jiu Xian’s method of the Nirvana Path, however, took a unique approach, exchanging endless Nirvanas for endless rebirths, gradually manifesting Chaos.
This also embodied the Secret Technique of the Three Thousand Great Paths, which equally led to the same goal.
Zhou Yan felt gratified, envisioning an extraordinary woman soaring into the heavens on the Nirvana Ancestor Star, peerlessly standing alone in the future.
Zhou Yan stepped through the Void, flying towards the distance.
Having comprehended various aspects of the Void Sword Body, Zhou Yan felt as natural and comfortable walking through the endless starry sky as a fish in water.
After a short while, Zhou Yan saw Yun Shu waiting ahead.
Yun Shu waited quietly in the starry sky, standing alone like a wife waiting for her husband’s return, silent and unspoken.
Behind her lay the endless starry sky, the cold, dark universe, but in her heart bloomed thriving faith, a belief dedicated to advancing her cultivation.
As Zhou Yan approached, a joyous smile emerged on Yun Shu’s serene face. She softly said, "Zhou Xuanzhe, you’ve come."
"Yes, we can go now."
Zhou Yan nodded slightly.
Yun Shu smiled brightly and then took out the Transmission Array Plate, handing it to Zhou Yan.
Since Zhou Yan said he could control the Array Plate better, Yun Shu naturally didn’t doubt it.
In fact, Zhou Yan’s actual abilities often far surpassed what he claimed. While other cultivators often boasted with grand words but showed mediocre performances, Zhou Yan was the exact opposite.
This filled Yun Shu with a strong anticipation for Zhou Yan’s ability to control the Array Plate.
Zhou Yan didn’t think much further, casually taking the Array Plate, exploring the Ancient Array engravings and the mysteries of the Void Runes within. After a moment of reflection and derivation, his hands moved rapidly, materializing vast amounts of ancient, yet unknown, energy.
These energies, scattered like fireworks, transformed amidst rotation into mysterious runes.
Initially, Yun Shu was somewhat puzzled, but then, when the entire starry sky trembled, she was shocked—Zhou Yan was abandoning the Array Plate, directly controlling the arrays with his own power to traverse the Void!
This, this must be a capability only Sword Ancestor Level cultivators possessed, right?
Yun Shu was immensely shocked, her expression changing indescribably—as if losing color. Because, in that instant, Zhou Yan had grabbed her arm, opened a void black hole, and pulled her into it.
Such void black holes possessed fearsome devouring powers, pushing Yun Shu’s heart to a suffocating peak, stopping even her breathing, her face twisting instinctively.
But in a moment, the dreadful tearing force did not appear; everything, like abruptly losing all power, energy, sound, and breath, became still, the world extraordinarily silent.
Her senses were abruptly severed, all sensing abilities vanishing seemingly.
Yun Shu found it inexplicably strange, but in the next moment, she was shocked to see that they had appeared above Yuhun Island.
"This, this technique is truly defying the heavens!"
As all returned to normal, and her severed senses fully recovered, Yun Shu regained her senses, feeling completely soaked with sweat.
She couldn’t help but internally marvel at Zhou Yan’s abilities, thinking them even more extraordinary than she imagined.
However, Yun Shu found it odd why Zhou Yan had come here.
Filled with doubts, Yun Shu saw Zhou Yan looking around, seemingly using his powerful sensing ability to scan the surroundings.
After a short while, Zhou Yan seemed slightly disappointed and said, "Let’s go to Nine Origin Heavenly City. Don’t worry, I’ll take you across the Void directly."
Zhou Yan stated calmly.
Yun Shu felt an odd sensation inside, thinking only someone like Zhou Yan would consider "traversing the Void" as easy as drinking water. After all, even Sword Ancestor Level cultivators couldn’t traverse the Void twice in an instant without any difficulty.
But Zhou Yan... his previous traversal of the Void showed no signs of strain; it seemed utterly effortless, which was truly... monstrous.
Yun Shu thought, feeling even more fortunate in her heart, thinking that with Zhou Yan’s pace of growth, it was lucky she had backed off early; otherwise, tragedy would have struck her by now.
Yun Shu thought to herself and couldn’t help but nod slightly, appearing very obedient.
Zhou Yan’s hand reached out again and grabbed her arm.
In the next moment, a black hole appeared again in front of them in the void, and Zhou Yan stepped into it with Yun Shu once more.
"I didn’t expect that Duan Xinghun, the Young Master of Yuhun Island, would have followed the Saint to Nine Origin Heavenly City. Otherwise, I could have avenged my father directly. However, taking revenge there isn’t too late."
Zhou Yan pondered to himself.
As for the Transmission Array Plate, Zhou Yan now thoroughly understood it, combining it with the Tai Chu Rune, and using Netherworld Energy to traverse space-time. As long as the distance wasn’t too vast, traversing the void three or five times continuously presented no pressure.
Moreover, since he had assimilated part of the Void Sword Body’s abilities, Zhou Yan felt an earth-shattering change in his understanding of space every day.
Such a transformation caused Zhou Yan’s abilities to undergo a kind of "void" transformation.
With a thought, Zhou Yan located the precise position of Nine Origin Heavenly City, accessed the weak node in the void, opened the black hole door of the void, and stepped out of the black hole with Yun Shu.
He didn’t wait for Feng Jiu Xian this time because Zhou Yan felt that Feng Jiu Xian had completed her Nirvana transformation and was no longer weak.
Perhaps, after her Nirvana, she might be even more powerful than he was now.
Meanwhile, Hou Chen, Hou Ling’er, and others were still cultivating in the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land within the Yuan Ci Secret Realm and hadn’t come out yet.
When the time came to head to Nine Origin Heavenly City, traveling directly from the Yuan Ci Secret Realm would not waste much time.
Upon emerging from the void, Zhou Yan immediately sensed numerous gazes upon him.
Perhaps, during these days, it was a period when many geniuses converged. Above and below heaven, Cultivators filled every corner.
Zhou Yan, emerging with Yun Shu from the black hole in the void, naturally attracted much attention.
However, most Cultivators who set their sights on Yun Shu instinctively shrank their necks and quickly averted their gazes.
Still, some were unabashed and flew over.
"Yun Shu? To think that you found yourself a man as well, haha, wonder if this man is any good, or if he’s just a paper tiger, haha!"
A burly man in beast-skin combat armor laughed heartily, his voice seeming to shake the heavenly vault.
"Yuan Kui, what happens with me is none of your business! Whether my man is up to the mark, why not let your mother try him out!"
Yun Shu furiously retorted, brimming with indignation.
Her words immediately incited laughter around them.
Zhou Yan was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself that Yun Shu, who seemed as meek as a lamb in front of him, actually possessed such a fiery nature. However, he couldn’t help but smile wryly and took no offense.
Yuan Kui, provoked by her comment, saw his bull-like eyes redden slightly as he snorted coldly, "Slut, once the matter of Heavenly Capital is settled, I’ll deal with you, hmph!"
Yun Shu spat disdainfully.
"Slut, you’re asking for death!"
Furious, Yuan Kui forcefully clapped his hand into the void, and suddenly, a blood-colored axe appeared in his hand.
He pulled with both hands, and the singular axe split into two.
Each axe seemed steeped in blood.
"Yuan Kui True Man, what are you trying to do?"
A gentle voice came from afar; then a figure in white scholarly robe, a handsome young man, flew from the void and landed not far from Zhou Yan.
"Jiang Wannian, are you trying to meddle?"
Yuan Kui’s expression turned icy as he stared at Jiang Wannian, the man in the white scholarly robe, with a displeased face.
Jiang Wannian simply smiled slightly, disregarding him, then turned and said with a smile, "Brother Zhou, I didn’t expect you to return so quickly. Was everything successful?"
"Yes, it went fairly well. But, it hasn’t even been ten days, and Brother Wan Nian has already advanced further in cultivation; it’s truly astounding."
"Brother Zhou, you’re mocking me now. Compared to Brother Zhou’s progress, my little advancement is barely worth mentioning!"
Jiang Wannian said with a wry smile.
Then, he added, "By the way, Brother Zhou, since you’ve returned, today happens to be the official day for entering the Tian Dou Divine Domain. I’ll treat, let’s have a gathering.
According to the allocation principle, Brother Zhou, along with Brother Xiao Ji Wu, and other top thirty ranked individuals from the Sword Burial Ancestor Star, we are part of a power. In future, when we march into the Heavenly Emperor Universe, we must be the vanguard, the leading figures."
Jiang Wannian stated.